Friday, April 17: Sami Selio will line-up alongside Alberto Comparato under the Comparato Racing banner for the 2026 UIM F1H2O  World Championship.

Damon Cohen ran alongside Alberto Comparato last season, but a spectacular accident during qualifying for the year’s final Grand Prix in Sharjah made for an unfortunate end to the Australian’s debut F1H2O season and forced Cohen to be sidelined for this year’s racing, creating a driver vacancy for Comparato’s team.

Meanwhile, Sami Selio had raced alongside Ferdinand Zandbergen for Red Devil-SMC F1 Team in the last  4 seasons, but the Dutchman called the curtains on his time in F1H2O at the end of 2025 to fully dedicate himself to his family’s firm.

This created an opportunity for Comparato and Selio to join forces for the season under a newly named Comparato Racing team, and Selio to be reunited with his old fellow driver Fabio Comparato, Alberto’s father, who is part of the team as pontoon mechanic.

The merger marks another twist in the long career of the Finnish racing legend, who made his F1H2O racing debut back in 1998. The two-time World Champion will bring his team of mechanics and radiomen to Comparato Racing along with him, as well as the Sharjah-made boat he has grown accustomed to racing with. Selio will be applying his wealth of experience to his new role as Team Manager.

Alberto Comparato will be the team’s other driver. The Italian showed flashes of potential throughout last season, with a series of strong finishes in multiple Sprint Races demonstrating the pace of which he is capable. However, hopes of a high standing in the Drivers’ World Championship were hampered by four consecutive DNFs in last season’s Grands Prix, meaning Comparato finished the season in eleventh. 

With the mightily experienced Selio now by his side, Comparato comes into the 2026 season hoping that a string of more consistent results will push him and his team up the tables. Selio expects nothing less than success for the duo, stating that “the Team's absolute goal is to fight for the Team Championship and top positions in every race. The drivers of course have their sights and goals on no less than a World Championship title.”